November 22, 1963 - This Day In History

[Charles L. Cotton]

I was in an 8th grade Texas History class and the reaction by the students wasn't what the media would have you believe. Don't get me wrong, I wish the man had not been murdered. I wish he had lived to loose the 1964 election so he could have gone on to be forgotten even more than Gerald Ford.

As those of us who were alive and old enough to know the truth die, the public is going to be stuck with the media's version of the Kennedy administration and Kennedy family. Unfortunately, progressively fewer Americans are going to know that there was no Camelot, there was no American version of a royal family and JFK certainly was not a beloved President. (I was politically active at 13; actually at 10 when I campaigned for Nixon in elementary school in 1960 and for Goldwater in 1964).

Kennedy won the 1960 election because of Lyndon Johnson who carried the south for the ticket. Word had leaked out that Kennedy was dumping Johnson in the 1964 elections and southern Democrats were in full revolt. The only reason Kennedy was in Texas a year before the 1964 election was to try and save his reelection bid. All the media wants to talk about now is the Cuban missile crisis (that he actually mishandled, but got lucky), but in 1963 the Bay of Pigs fiasco was a far bigger story. Funny how that's never mentioned anymore.

After his death, the whitewash began. Cape Canaveral Florida changed its name to Cape Kennedy, only to change it back to Cape Canaveral in 1973 when details about Kennedy were gradually becoming public. The media to this day promotes the idea of Camelot and it's a load of garbage. Only the media and a handful of Kennedy family groupies bought into that line.

This post has probably angered some Members, but that isn't my goal. I'm sick of a half century of the media and Democrats lying to the public about the Kennedy years and the man himself. He didn't deserve to die, but he didn't deserve a coronation either.

Chas.

[n5wd]

These are very powerful memories. I was not born yet, but the images are ingrained on my mind.
I wonder, God forbid, something like that happened again in this age if principals would lead a prayer for the president and schools would be closed early? It's not PC.

Curious, if schools outside NY closed on 9-11?

Not officially closed, but we certainly facilitated getting kids back home on 9/11 - lotsa phone calls back and forth, and by the end of the day, I probably had 20% of a normal attendance left in the classroom.

And yes, I have no problem imagining our principal getting on the PA, should your hypothetical happen, and leading a prayer. And, I don't know that anyone would have any heartburn over it, either, PC or not.

Whether schools would close - probably not: so many parents have things in place where they need the kiddoh in school till they get off work, or have arrangements made. While most of our high school students could probably fend for themselves if the school was closed at, say, 10:00 AM, think of the elementary and middle school kids - nope, even in inclement weather, we're (the teachers and admins) gonna be here at least till normal closing time, and the last time we had a snow/ice event while school was in session, I wound up staying till almost 7:00pm with a lot of other teachers trying to take care of kids whose parents couldn't get to the school to pick them up before then. Of course, for some of our staff that lives father away, we double-up what's left of the classes (if needed, so they can get home at a reasonable time.

Back on topic: Nov. 22, 1963 - I was in the 4th grade in Abilene. The news came over the PA - most of the kids didn't quite grasp what the real meaning of the announcement was, but we took our cues from the adults and got real somber. I remember walking home, and seeing people in the little shopping center I had to walk by standing out on the sidewalk talking and crying and still not understanding what really was going on. It wasn't till I got home and turned on the TV (our part of town had been wired for cable TV then, so we got to watch the Dallas and Fort Worth stations all weekend).

And, on Monday - the schools were closed, so we watched everything... glued to the TV for about three and-a-half-days straight.

[03Lightningrocks]

This date may not mean too much for the younger generations, but I remember November 22 more than most other dates on the calendar.

I was only two but can only imagine the horror of the incident.

[WildBill]

I was in an 8th grade Texas History class and the reaction by the students wasn't what the media would have you believe.
Chas.

I remember one person in my 8th grade class said "Good!", when the announcement came over the intercom.
The teacher rapped him on the head with his knuckles and told him to shut up.

What was the reaction by the students in your class?

[txglock21]

I was in an 8th grade Texas History class and the reaction by the students wasn't what the media would have you believe. Don't get me wrong, I wish the man had not been murdered. I wish he had lived to loose the 1964 election so he could have gone on to be forgotten even more than Gerald Ford.

As those of us who were alive and old enough to know the truth die, the public are going to be stuck with the media's version of the Kennedy administration and Kennedy family. Unfortunately, progressively fewer Americans are going to know that there was no Camelot, there was no American version of a royal family and JFK certainly was not a beloved President. (I was politically active at 13; actually at 10 when I campaigned for Nixon in elementary school in 1960 and for Goldwater in 1964).

Kennedy won the 1960 election because of Lyndon Johnson who carried the south for the ticket. Word had leaked out that Kennedy was dumping Johnson in the 1964 elections and southern Democrats were in full revolt. The only reason Kennedy was in Texas a year before the 1964 election was to try and save his reelection bid. All the media wants to talk about now is the Cuban missile crisis (that he actually mishandled, but got lucky), but in 1963 the Bay of Pigs fiasco was a far bigger story. Funny how that's never mentioned anymore.

After his death, the whitewash began. Cape Canaveral Florida changed its name to Cape Kennedy, only to change it back to Cape Canaveral in 1973 when details about Kennedy were gradually becoming public. The media to this day promotes the idea of Camelot and it's a load of garbage. Only the media and a handful of Kennedy family groupies bought into that line.

This post has probably angered some Members, but that isn't my goal. I'm sick of a half century of the media and Democrats lying to the public about the Kennedy years and the man himself. He didn't deserve to die, but he didn't deserve a coronation either.

Chas.

You didn't anger me in the least. Although like I said before I was not alive at that time, I am not or was ever was a fan of JFK. I am a history buff of sorts and became a Republican (to the dismay of my dad) after the election of Jimmy Carter in 1976. Although I was only 8 in '76, I started becoming aware of politics at that time and saw how the Dems were on the path then of eroding America's way of life. Because JFK was killed, all of a sudden he became the greatest president ever. All his mistakes and infidelities, etc.. just were forgotten. I'm sorry he was killed,but he was quite possibly on the lower end of our president's list of good presidents. I believe had he not died, we would not be so high on him as many are today. Just my humble opinion.

[howdy]

I was in an 8th grade Texas History class and the reaction by the students wasn't what the media would have you believe.
Chas.

I remember one person in my 8th grade class said "Good!", when the announcement came over the intercom.
The teacher rapped him on the head with his knuckles and told him to shut up.

What was the reaction by the students in your class?

Again, in Mrs. Blundell's 8th grade history class, the majority of students were not upset. I recall a few negative comments. I really don't think we understood the enormity of the situation.

[WildBill]

I was in an 8th grade Texas History class and the reaction by the students wasn't what the media would have you believe.
Chas.

I remember one person in my 8th grade class said "Good!", when the announcement came over the intercom.
The teacher rapped him on the head with his knuckles and told him to shut up.

What was the reaction by the students in your class?

Again, in Mrs. Blundell's 8th grade history class, the majority of students were not upset. I recall a few negative comments. I really don't think we understood the enormity of the situation.

I don't think that many 8th grade students could comprehend the enormity of the situation, nor could many adults. Most eight graders [at least in my case] didn't know much about real life politics and many just repeated what they had heard from their parents. At that time there was only the television news and the radio to learn what was going on in the world.

At the time some people thought it was a plot of the communists to assassinate American leaders. The closest thing that I can think of in more recent times is the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

[Charles L. Cotton]

I was in an 8th grade Texas History class and the reaction by the students wasn't what the media would have you believe.
Chas.

What was the reaction by the students in your class?

The teachers cried and . . . well . . . no one else did. As you said, before the end of the day, the rumor was already going around that the Russians had done it, but I thought it was more likely Cuban refuges in retaliation for the Bay of Pigs. We were all wrong as to who, and we still are for that matter, but that's a topic for another day.

Chas.

[jmra]

We were all wrong as to who, and we still are for that matter, but that's a topic for another day.

Chas.

You really gonna leave us hanging like that? (In my best 3 yo impersonation) I wanna know! I wanna know!

[howdy]

I consider myself a fairly decent rifle shooter. I shot expert in the Marines and I do ok at the range....BUT...I can't imagine using an old bolt action rifle to place 3 quick fatal shots into a 100 yd/+ moving target. Thats all I have to say about that.

[Charles L. Cotton]

We were all wrong as to who, and we still are for that matter, but that's a topic for another day.

Chas.

I wanna know! I wanna know!

So do I!!

Chas.

[The Annoyed Man]

This date may not mean too much for the younger generations, but I remember November 22 more than most other dates on the calendar.

I remember exactly where I was and who I was with when I heard that fateful news. It's hard to believe that that was a half-century ago, eh?

Me too. It was one of the most significant events in my life, including everything since.

I was 11 years old, in my 6th grade classroom. Just like someone else mentioned, the teacher got called to the door by the principle. When she turned back to face the classroom, she was crying and she said these words: "Children, the president has just been shot."

[JP171]

ummm a little early aren't we?

Where were you on that date?

LMAO on the day Johnny was shot, hmmm OH YEA!! I was waiting to be born

[JALLEN]

I was in an 8th grade Texas History class and the reaction by the students wasn't what the media would have you believe. Don't get me wrong, I wish the man had not been murdered. I wish he had lived to loose the 1964 election so he could have gone on to be forgotten even more than Gerald Ford.

As those of us who were alive and old enough to know the truth die, the public is going to be stuck with the media's version of the Kennedy administration and Kennedy family. Unfortunately, progressively fewer Americans are going to know that there was no Camelot, there was no American version of a royal family and JFK certainly was not a beloved President. (I was politically active at 13; actually at 10 when I campaigned for Nixon in elementary school in 1960 and for Goldwater in 1964).

Kennedy won the 1960 election because of Lyndon Johnson who carried the south for the ticket. Word had leaked out that Kennedy was dumping Johnson in the 1964 elections and southern Democrats were in full revolt. The only reason Kennedy was in Texas a year before the 1964 election was to try and save his reelection bid. All the media wants to talk about now is the Cuban missile crisis (that he actually mishandled, but got lucky), but in 1963 the Bay of Pigs fiasco was a far bigger story. Funny how that's never mentioned anymore.

After his death, the whitewash began. Cape Canaveral Florida changed its name to Cape Kennedy, only to change it back to Cape Canaveral in 1973 when details about Kennedy were gradually becoming public. The media to this day promotes the idea of Camelot and it's a load of garbage. Only the media and a handful of Kennedy family groupies bought into that line.

This post has probably angered some Members, but that isn't my goal. I'm sick of a half century of the media and Democrats lying to the public about the Kennedy years and the man himself. He didn't deserve to die, but he didn't deserve a coronation either.

Chas.

I disagree with some of that. The whitewash didn't begin after his death, but years before. The Kennedy PR machine had years to perfect the image of a youthful, vigorous, wealthy, intelligent family man. All of it phony, except he was relatively wealthy. At the time, the media knew most of the sordid truth but kept it from us. Back then, if he had been known as a serial prolific philanderer, he wouldn't have been elected dog catcher of Hyannis Port.

There was a great deal of handwringing about his Catholicism, all of it needless. It turns out Kennedy didn't care a whit about what the Pope said, or thought. Truman turns out to have been right again, observing that it wasn't the Pope he was afraid of, it was The Pop, referring to Joseph P. Kennedy. The forum software prevents me from recounting an accurate quotation of what Truman said about Richard Nixon, which turned out to be spot on, too. Maybe the pessimist is always right!

The investigation and subsequent tests I have seen show that it was possible for a single gunman to have made the shots that killed Kennedy and wounded Gov. Connally. They have the records showing that the rifle that fired the shots was sold to LHO, and pictures of him with a gun of that type. His fingerprints were on the gun found in the Schoolbook Depository. What they have not shown is that he was the triggerman. A Dallas policeman entered the Depository ~45 seconds after the shots and discovered LHO in the lunch room, no signs of excitement, out of breath etc. He might have moved across the 6th floor, down the stairs 4 flights, and into the lunch room but not without respiratory and circulatory impact.

It is astonishing given the amount of man-hours and funds spent on the investigation, headed by the Chief Justice, the case against LHO would have been thrown out of just about any court in the country if that's all they introduced, especially after the testimony of eyewitnesses who were NOT called before the Warren Commission, were called in rebuttal.

[SATX-Scrub]

I was 60 days in the womb, not born until July the next year. I'll have to ask my mom when I call this weekend, because now I'm curious. I'll have to get back to ya'all...